When All Hope Seems Lost
by StrangeKid1998
Summary: What would you do if four little turtles landed on your front door step in the dead middle of winter? Leave them outside in the cold? Or do you bring them in and see what happens? This is in the 2014 universe and is NOT to be confused as being a part of A 6th Shell Rising-it's a completely different story.
1. Chapter 1: Being Cold Sucks

It was freezing outside. Literally. Three inches of snow and it was still coming down with no sign of stopping, by tomorrow morning, there was supposed to be more than six on the ground. School was already cancelled, which is something that almost _never_ happens, so I could stay up later than usual.

I was sitting in my dormer with a blanket, music, and my sketch book with the blinds open so I could watch the snow fall. When I draw, I get into it and block almost everything out except for the music. As I was finishing up an eye, something flew past my window—which caught my attention. I squinted out my window to try and figure out what that something was when another something hit my window. I jumped in my seat with a yelp and then saw the unmistakable splat of a snow ball. Who could've thrown it? My neighborhood was a quiet one with no rouge pranksters. Then another hit it in almost the same exact spot.

 _Wow, nice aim._ I thought as I leaned against my widow with my hands cupped around my eyes. I couldn't see anything for a moment then a little figure passed by the beam of light from the window in the front yard.

"What in the world...?" I said as I squinted through the window and blowing snow. Then another snow ball flew up towards my window, but fell to the roof a few feet short of it. I stared out the window, trying to find this little person again and gasped when it suddenly collapsed right in the beam of light; moments later it was swarmed by three other little figures. One of the three turned away from the fallen one and started waving its arms in the air, wanting my attention. Well, it got it. From what I could tell, they looked like little kids _without_ coats; but something was off about them, they didn't seem to move right. I continued to stare at the waving kid until I clicked back to reality. Those kids would freeze if they didn't get inside sometime soon! I glanced hastily around and then help up a finger and nodded, meaning that I was coming.

I jumped out of my dormer seat, fumbled with getting my boots on, grabbed all of the blankets from my bed, and ran downstairs. I fumbled with the stubborn handle of the front door and yanked it open; a blast of bone chilling air flew through the door, catching the attention of both Mom and Dad. They asked me something, but I didn't hear them, I was too focused on getting those kids inside. Without closing the door, I jumped into the snow, the flakes and biting wind burning on my face as I trudged out to the four freezing children.

When I got to them, they were all huddled around the one laying in the snow, watching me with worried, concerned, and fear filled eyes. I still couldn't really get a good look at them, but they didn't seem to be human at all.

"Please miss, please help us." One of them begged as he walked up to me and put a cold hand on my arm. The little boy was about elbow height to and shaking like a leaf.

"Here." I handed him a blanket and he took it gratefully, wrapping it around his shoulders and neck, burying his face in it. I knelt next to the unconscious one in the snow, looking at the two others who were almost lying on top of him (they all looked like they were boys.) I could see their wide eyes and shivering bodies I only had two more blankets, so I gave them the biggest one and they wrapped up in it faster than the blink of an eye. I reached down and touched the one on the ground and gasped when I felt how cold he was.

"He's ice cold! Oh God—" I frantically touched his forehead and cheeks, but was slightly relieved when I felt his pulse in his neck and that he was still breathing. "How long have you been out here?" I asked one of the two in the big blanket.

"I-I don't know. B-but it's been a long t-time." The taller of the two stuttered.

"We need to get you four in right now." I said quickly as I flung the blanket over my shoulder and reached into the snow and pulled the poor boy from it and wrapped him up in the blanket. As I cradled him, I noticed that his back was really hard and round—as if he was wearing a plastic shell. I was cold too, but that didn't matter. These boys were going to die if they didn't get warm soon.

I turned and trudged through the snow back to the house. Mom and Dad would probably freak out that I was bringing in four stray boys without telling them anything about it, but they'd also be upset if we woke up to four frozen children in our front yard. They followed me in, sticking close to my sides, the smallest one gripping the side of my sweatshirt. When we got back inside, I kicked the door shut and ran to the linen closet to get a thicker blanket for the boy in my arms. I put him against my shoulder as I pulled out the heating pad and a layered comforter.

"Jessie, what's going on? Who is that?" Mom asked me as I came into the living room and sat on the hearth, next to a crackling fire.

"They were outside." I said as I moved the blanket away from his face and stuffed the comforter under his shivering body.

He wasn't human. But what could I do? I have a guilty conscious if I turned my back on someone who needed help.

He was green and didn't have any hair or a nose, but nostrils instead. I opened up the blankets and saw that his chest and stomach was covered by a plastron (knowing that from being the little biology nerd that I am) and only had three fingers on each hand. I pushed back the blanket a little bit more and saw that he did have a shell and it wasn't plastic. This kid was a giant humanoid turtle.

 _"They?"_ Dad asked from the recliner.

"Yes, _they_. This poor kid collapsed from the cold and the others were close to doing the same themselves. If I didn't help, then all of them would've died." I said defensively as I covered him back up. "Speaking of which, where are they?" I got up and went back to the foyer to find them huddled on the landing of the stairs, shoved into a corner with fearful looks on their faces and still shivering from the cold.

"Come on," I said softly as I squatted in front of them. They all looked like the one in my arms only they had their own physical builds and different colored eyes—sky blue, light green, and light brown. "We're not going to hurt you." I was still holding the other one in m y arms and they all craned their necks to look at him.

"Is Leo going to be all right?" The turtle with the blue eyes, who was the smallest, asked with tears welling up in his eyes.

"Yeah, he'll be okay." I soothed. "Come into the living room, there's a fire in the fireplace. You need to warm up."

They all looked at each other wearily then back at me. The green eyed one took the one with blue eyes gently by the arm and nodded at the other one as they all got up and followed me back into the warm living room. They almost hugged my legs and stared at Mom and Dad in fear as we walked into the living room who returned the stare with shock. I held my chin high as I took wide steps to the fireplace and sat down on the hearth without taking my eyes off of my parents. After a brief stare down, I turned back to the three little turtles who were warming their hands by the fire, smiling with relief from the cold.

"Can you please plug in the heating pad?" I asked Mom in a steely tone. She was still awestruck and gaping at the turtles and didn't take her eyes off of them as she slowly got up and did what I asked; any other day, I would've been scolded for using that tone of voice. As Mom handed me the small, salmon pink blanket, the one with brown eyes glanced over his shoulder and did a second take as I adjusted the heating controls and placed it on the chest of the turtle in my arms.

"What is that?" He asked with worry as he looked between me and the heating pad.

"It's a blanket with a heater in it. This guy is still really cold, he'll need all the warmth he can get." I said as he turned around and watched him as he placed the back of his hand on the other's forehead.

"You're right. He needs all the heat he can get, he may be hypothermic." He stated as he pulled the comforter over the top of the other's head.

"Hypo—hypoder—hyper... Wha?" The one with blue eyes asked in confusion.

"Hypothermia. It's what happens when your body temperature drops too low, you get weak and eventually go unconscious if you aren't warmed up in time." He explained. This kid was smart. The blue eyed one looked at the one with green eyes, still confused.

"Too cold for too long, not good." He sighed and rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"What's your name?" I asked the brown eyed one as he turned his attention back to the one in my arms.

"Donatello..." He said cautiously, looking at me with the same caution. This caught the blue and green eyed turtles' attention, making them turn around to face me.

"And you?" I smiled warmly.

"I-I'm Michelangelo," The blue eyed one said. "B-but you can call me Mikey." He glanced shyly at me.

"I'm Raphael," The green eyes one said. "Call me Raph." He poked his thumb against his chest.

"He's Leonardo." Donatello said and nodded towards my arms.

"All Italian..." Mom breathed.

"Do you have a thermometer?" Donatello asked, ignoring my mother's random comment.

"Yes." I looked at the couch where my parents sat. They were still staring at the turtles until I cleared my throat and pressed my lips together, silently asking someone to go and get it. This time Dad got up and went to retrieve it from the kitchen; he tried to look casual like nothing was happening, but the sound of his footsteps said otherwise.

"Do you want the digital or the traditional one?" He asked from the kitchen.

"Traditional please." Donatello called back. "A digital thermometer probably wouldn't read a body temperature as low as ours. It was created for humans after all." He explained with a shrug.

"At least he's warming up." I said as I touched his forehead.

"Yeah, but not warm enough..." He placed his small hand on Leonardo's head and cheek.

"Does anyone want hot chocolate?" Mom cleared her throat as she got up from the couch.

"Yes! Yes please!" The little turtles chirped happily over each other.

"Your mom is really nice, Miss." Michelangelo said with a bright smile.

"Are you getting any warmer?" I asked him and Raphael. They both nodded as Michelangelo brought the blanket up to his cheeks and looked up at me with his big, blue eyes.

"What's your name?" Raphael asked.

"My name is Jessie." I smiled. "Now, who was the sharp-shooter who pegged my window?" Raphael looked away and blushed with a small smile.

"I-I did." He said in a small, bashful, voice.

 _"Well,_ nice aimin' there Ace." I said with an even bigger smile. It was a pretty big feat to throw a snowball that fat in a storm like this and the fact that it was done by a half frozen turtle makes it even bigger. He grinned shyly and pulled the blanket around his face.

Dad came back with the thermometer and handed it to Donatello, who took it with a nod, uncapped it, shook it down, and stuck it into Leonardo's mouth. I adjusted it so that it fit under his tongue and held it in place.

"What's a healthy temperature for you guys?" I asked. I figured that they'd be warmer than a regular turtle but was definitely cooler than a human.

"A regular land or water turtle is in between 63 and 73, it's about 85 for us." He shrugged as he leaned in and squinted at the thermometer. It didn't take long to get warm and top out at 83.

"Being cold _sucks."_ Michelangelo complained as he scooted closer to me, leaned against my side, and buried his face into his side of the blanket.

"Well, it's a good thing that the hot chocolate is done." Mom said with a smile as she came into the living room with four mugs of the steaming beverage. "I made you a cup too." She said quietly to me as she handed out the three others to the eager turtles who were now nothing but smiles. She was more relaxed compared to before; maybe she thought this whole thing over in the kitchen.

"Put in on the floor," I nodded to a spot next to my foot. "My hands are kinda full." I chuckled. Then Leonardo quietly sighed, looking more peaceful than he had earlier.

"I think he's actually sleeping now." Donatello said as he craned his neck to look into the bundle of blankets as he held his mug close to his face, letting the steam waft around it. "He needs it." Then the living room was filled with silence except for the crackling of the fire and quiet sips of hot chocolate.

"Why did you help us?" Raphael asked, breaking the heavy and tired silence.

"Huh?"

"Why did you help us? You could've let us freeze out there and ignore us. Why did you do it?" He asked, looking at me with his steely, green eyes.

"Because..." I started. There were several reasons and I knew them, but they just wouldn't come to mind. My brain drew a blank. "Because—I couldn't watch you freeze."

"Is that all?" He persisted.

"Raph!" Donatello hissed.

"No, I want to know. Plenty of people could've just ignored us or killed us." He snapped and then turned back to me. _"Why did you save us?"_

"I don't know... I-I just can't leave someone behind like that," I stared out into space. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

"And it's not because we're freaks?"

"No," I chuckled. "I couldn't really see you guys from my window. All I saw was four little kids out in the cold." I looked at him solemnly. "I've learned that you should never judge a book by its cover." I looked down at him as tears began to well up in his eyes.

"We've-we've never met a human who didn't want us because..." His voice cracked as he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "Because of _what_ we are."

"Dude, are you crying?" Michelangelo asked, leaning in towards him.

"So what if I am?" He snapped in his face.

"Oh Honey," I chuckled as I slid my arm out from underneath Leonardo's back and opened up. "Come here." I waved my hand at him to come, but he only turned away and sniffed as a tear ran down his cheek. "Come here." I said in a softer tone with my arm still open. He whimpered and pulled himself into a ball and a moment later, he flung himself into my side and cried into my sweatshirt.

"You don't know how much this means to me." He sobbed. All of this was coming from fear of being alone and having someone who actually cares about them for _who_ , not _what_ they are. To be honest, I would probably act the same way if I was in their situation.

"Raphael," I said and lifted up his face so he could look at me. "I know that you probably haven't had good experiences with humans, but you're gonna be safe and loved here." I wiped a tear off of his cheek with my thumb as he looked at me with watery eyes.

"Loved?" He whimpered softly.

"Loved." I nodded with a smile. He hugged my waist and continued to cry but now with a small smile. Then I heard a soft groan and felt Leonardo begin to move in my arm, catching everybody's attention.

"Leo!" Michelangelo cried as he jumped out from underneath his blanket and stood in front of me and watched intently.

"He's waking up." Donatello scrambled around excitedly and pushed the blanket away from his face. Leonardo squirmed and sighed as his hands went out above his head as he stretched then came down and rubbed his eyes.

"This sucks." He grunted as he continued to scrub his eyes. With a yawn, he opened his eyes and squinted at me, looking confused. Then it clicked. He squirmed out of my arms and jumped out into the middle of the living room and into a fighting stance with wide eyes and fists up.

"Leo," Raphael put a hand out in front of him, still holding my waist with the other. Leonardo was looking around in a frantic panic and froze when he saw Dad sitting in the recliner reading a newspaper. "Leo," Raphael repeated, he got his attention this time. "It's okay. We're safe here." He stiffened when he looked at me and stared at Raphael, he looked shocked that he was actually hugging me.

"What did you do to me?" Leonardo growled as his stare turned into a hostile glare.

"I brought you inside to warm you up." I shrugged.

"Dude, we're fine." Michelangelo said. "She's really nice; she even gave us hot cocoa." Leonardo glanced wearily at Dad, who was probably listening in on the conversation, but stayed behind his paper.

"Leo, seriously, calm down; she saved our lives. If it wasn't for her, we'd all be knocked out in the snow and you'd probably be dead." Raphael snapped and got up and grabbed Leonardo by the shoulders. "Give her a little thanks." His tone softened as he looked over his shoulder at me.

"I-I," Leonardo started as he looked down at his two-toed feet. "Guess you're right."

"What?" Michelangelo chuckled in disbelief. I looked at Donatello in confusion who had the same shocked expression on his face.

"They always fight and Leo almost never confesses that Raph is right." He explained as he watched them with a smile. "It's kind of an ego thing."

"Oh." I nodded as I watched Leonardo look Raphael in the eyes then up at me. He gently pushed off Raphael's hands and walked up to me, lips pressed together and guilt in his eyes.

"I'm sorry for being mean and yelling at you." He bowed and couldn't make eye contact as he apologized. "And thank you for saving me and my brothers." So they are brothers. They seemed too close to be just friends, and what are the odds of finding three separate turtles who weren't raised at the same time? Which brought up a thought.

"Where did you come from?" This caught all of them off guard and they all exchanged sad glances. Leonardo took in a deep breath and slowly let it out

"We are from New York," He sat down on the floor and hung his head. "We were taken from out home by men in yellow suits and put in the back of a van in cages. They were taking us somewhere when we broke out and ran away."

"I remember Dad's face..." Michelangelo whimpered as his eyes began to water and got a hug from Donatello who squeezed his eyes shut. Leonardo tried to continue, but he just couldn't get anything out.

"I don't—we don't know what to do." He choked out as he glanced around at the ground with wide, fear-filled, watery eyes.

"Well, first off," I started. "You boys aren't going back outside without something to keep you warm. Secondly, you're going to stay the night here, I'm not gonna let you leave until the weather improves." I looked around at them with my head held high as a smile grew across my face. Leonardo looked at me with his deep blue eyes that started to lose their fear and fill with relief as he relaxed. The other boys looked shocked at first at my orders then softened and started to smile. Michelangelo threw himself around my chest and hugged me with a huge grin and only a few moments later Raphael and Donatello joined him. I hugged back and saw Leonardo who still stood on the carpet in front of us, looking defeated.

"Leonardo," I said quietly. "You don't have to be scared anymore." He glanced up from the floor.

"I know..." He nodded quietly. "But I'm not supposed to be scared—I'm not supposed to show fear. I have to be strong and brave. I have to be the leader. Leaders aren't supposed to be scared." So _that_ was his problem.

"Leo—I can call you that right?" I said; he nodded as he looked back down at the floor. "Nobody's completely fearless—it's just not possible. You can't have courage without fear and, from what I've seen, you are one of the most courageous kids I have ever met." He blushed but still couldn't make eye contact. "Nobody's invincible."

"But in movies—" He started and I cut him off with a raised hand.

"Movies aren't real, all of that is acting." I said sternly. "Now, you come over here and stop beating yourself up over this silliness." I said in a warmer tone. He looked at me with a gasp then he finally gave in and ran to me and buried his face into my shoulder and began to shake. I pulled all four in closer and hugged them. They needed this.

Hundreds of miles away from home, no one to turn to for help, scared out of their wits, and completely helpless... I was glad that they found me and I found them. Fate works in mysterious ways and always finds ways to surprise you with incredible things.


	2. Chapter 2: Not as Easy as it Seems

When the fire began to die, we decided to finally go upstairs to my room to wind down for the night. All of us were tired from the last, and rather eventful, few hours. Mom and Dad went to bed with only nervous glances at the brothers and not much else. Since I was the one who brought them into the house, my room was nominated as the bedroom of choice.

"Aw, yes! Sleepover!" Mikey pumped his fists as we came to the top of the stairs.

"How can you still have so much energy?" Donatello yawned.

"Bruh, how can you not? This is the first sleepover we've ever been to!" He exclaimed happily as he jumped down the only hallway on the second floor. "Is that your room?" He asked as we came to the door. It was the only closed door in the hall, the bathroom was the only other room and its door was wide open—he figured that I didn't sleep in there.

"Who else's do you think it is?" Raph snapped.

"I don't know, a brother's or something." He stuck his tongue out at him. "Do you have a brother?"

"Yes I do, but he's not here right now. He's stuck at my grandma's house." I smiled at his bright blue eyes and freckled cheeks.

"Stuck?"

"Yeah, everybody's kinda snowed in at the moment." I flicked on the switch and busied myself with turning off the dormer light that was left on when I ran to save the brothers.

"Oh my gosh, your bed is so comfortable." Raph sighed, splayed out on the bed with a smile.

"Yeah?" I chuckled as Leo and Donatello climbed sleepily up onto the bed.

"Yeah." He exhaled in satisfaction.

"Ooh," Mikey shivered and rubbed his arms. "It's kinda cold in here."

"Well, it looks like you boys are in luck," I smiled and walked over to my closet and dramatically threw open the door. "It just so happens that I'm the _Hoodie Queen."_

"Really?" Mikey gasped as I stepped away from in front of it. He looked up at the closet with sparkling eyes and smiled. "That one! The orange one!" He pointed at the hoodie excitedly and started doing a little happy dance when I took it off of its hanger.

"It's a little big for you..." I said, holding it up to him.

"So?"

 _Well alright then._ I shrugged and helped him into it. Mikey was so excited that he could barely contain it.

"Orange Crush," He looked down at the logo on the hoodie once it was on. "I love that soda!" He exclaimed, wildly waving the sleeves of the hoodie.

"May I wear the blue one please?" Leo asked politely. I nodded with a grin and looked back at the other two as I got a blue hoodie from the closet.

"Red." Raph said groggily, barely able to keep his eyes open.

"Donatello?" I asked expectantly.

"Huh?" He looked at me, snapping back to reality from space. "Oh, purple please. And you can call me Donnie." He yawned. _"Donatello_ is a mouthful, so we just shorten it."

I walked over to my bed and handed out the sweatshirts to the very sleepy turtles sitting on the bed. All were yawning or almost falling over form exhaustion except for Mikey—who was looking at the posters on my walls. As I was helping Donnie find his hands in the sweatshirt, I saw, from the corner of my eye, Mikey creep over to the opposite side of the bed and crouch behind Raph with a dark and mischievous grin on his face. All of the other boys were completely oblivious as to where their brother was and I was the only one who could see him. If he was going to do what I thought he was doing, then this would definitely not end well.

Raph was sitting close to the edge of the bed facing me, sitting up and nearly asleep. I watched as a hand slowly crept up from the side of the bed and move behind Raph; then with a flash of orange, the hand jabbed Raph in the ribs, making him yelp in surprise. Before I could even blink, a blur of red flew off the edge of the bed with an angry growl and landed with a _thud_ on Mikey. I couldn't see them, but Raph was winning.

"Ow! Ow! Stop!" Mikey whined.

"You asked for it!" Raph growled, I could only see the top of his now hooded head.

"I was just playing! _Gosh!"_ Mikey wailed. "Let me _go!"_

"You should've thought of that before."

"Raph, let him go." Leo said sternly.

"But—"

"No, get off of him." Leo cut him off. "We're guests here, you're supposed to be polite at other people's houses."

"Yeah Raph, be polite." Mikey said through a squished cheek.

"You have no room to talk, you started this." Leo scolded and pointed at Mikey over the side of the bed. Donnie and I exchanged shocked glances as we watched the little tussle between the three brothers who were now in an intense stare down with Raph glaring at Leo who returned a stern stare while the pinned Mikey looked at Raph in frustration. _" ."_ Leo said through his teeth.

"Or what?" Raph challenged with a growl and pulled Mikey's arm farther back, making him whimper.

"You know what..." He hissed.

"Okay, okay. Break it up." I said as I got in between Leo and Raph, we didn't need another fight. Leo was probably still weak and everybody was tired and the sooner we got to bed, the better. Leo leaned back from the side of the bed, not breaking the stare with Raph and let out a hard breath through his nose. "Raphael, let him go."

Raph scowled at Leo as he let go of Mikey and stood up with clenched hands. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and helped Mikey up; there was still tension between the two, so I kept an eye on both.

"Whimp." Raph mumbled under his breath.

 _"That's it!"_ Leo yelled and threw himself at Raph, tackling him and almost going head first into the dresser behind his brother.

Mikey yelped and jumped out of the way and scurried up onto the bed just as Leo threw the first punch. The rolled around, exchanging punches, trash talk, slaps to the face, and bloodying noses. I scrambled off my bed as they rolled up onto their feet, got in fighting stances, and ran at each other, now trading kicks, blocks and jabs. For kids their age, they could certainly fight. Before I could get to them, Leo's foot connected with Raph's jaw, throwing him back a few steps, splitting his lip, and infuriating him even more. As Raph growled and got ready to pounce on his brother again, I jumped on him and wrapped my arms and legs around him, falling on my back and trying to keep my grip on the wriggling turtle who was a lot stronger than what I anticipated.

"Let me go!" He yelled as I hugged him even tighter.

"Donnie, get Leo!" I grunted as the free and furious turtle started to run at us. The two others jumped off the bed and grabbed him by the arms and struggled against his strength.

"Leo, you've gotta calm down." Mikey pleaded as he ran in front of him and pushed against his chest.

"No! I'm tired of his crap; he needs to be taught a lesson!" Leo barked as he tried to lunge at Raph.

 _"My_ crap? You don't know what it's like to be bossed around by _you_ every single day! I'm _sick_ of being told what to do!" Raph snapped back, still squirming in my grip.

"It's my job. It's not always fun being leader. It's my responsibility to protect you," Leo's voice cracked. "I would never be able to forgive myself if anything happened to you." He stopped struggling against Donnie and Mikey, closed his eyes, and clenched his teeth as he let out a small whimper. _"I would be nothing without you!"_ He yelled as tears ran down his cheeks. Raph stopped moving in my arms and stared at Leo in confusion. A heavy silence fell over my room as the three brothers gaped at Leo.

"What?" Raph squeaked quietly.

"I am not fearless. If anything happened to _any_ of you..." He fell to his knees and buried his face in his hands and started to bawl.

"Really?" Raph breathed, only loud enough to be heard. Leo sniffed and nodded with a whimper.

"Nothing scares me more than... Than losing you." I let go of Raph who got up to stand in front of his brother.

"I didn't know..." Raph said quietly. I sat up and looked at the sleeve of my gray sweatshirt and found blood on it. I didn't say anything about Raph's busted lip and bloody nose, this was obviously something that had been cooped up for a while—this conversation needed to happen.

"I always thought that you were fearless." Mikey said softly; Leo hugged his knees and put his face on his arms and sighed shakily.

"Mikey," I said, Leo didn't need any more pressure than he already had. "There's a difference between fearlessness and bravery and courage." Mikey, Raph, and Donnie all looked at me, redirecting their attention from poor Leo. "Bravery and courage is the ability to overcome a fear. Fearlessness can often get you into trouble and is more reckless than both of those. Your brother isn't fearless, he's just very brave and courageous." I looked past Raph at Leo who still had his face buried into his arms. "I already told him that..."

Leo looked up at me then glanced around at his brothers. We'd already had that conversation, but I guessed it registered more on the momentary fear of the recent events and not the whole concept of it.

"Oh yeah..." Mikey nodded softly. "I remember now."

"B-but I don't think that admitting that you're scared will change anything on how we see you." Donnie said quickly.

"We're all scared too..." Raph added and knelt down in front of Leo. "So you're not alone with this." Leo looked at Raph and sniffed.

"It's just so much stress..." Leo whimpered.

"And we'll always be here for you."

Leo looked up at Raph, then threw himself around his brother and hugged him with closed, watery eyes; Raph hesitated for a second then hugged him back. After a few moments, they broke and held each other at the shoulders.

"You got a bloody nose." Raph gently wiped his thumb over Leo's lip, brushing the drying blood off of his face.

"You're in no better condition." Leo chuckled.

"C'mon," I said with a smile as I got up from the floor. "Let's go get you two cleaned up." I led them down the hall and into the bathroom and sat down on the counter as I found the first aid kit. 

"Dang, you really did do a number on me." Raph commented, tenderly touching his bloody lip.

"Yeah?" Leo said in a nasally voice as I stuck a wad of toilet paper in his nostril.

"So what was with that hardcore fighting?" I asked as I held Leo's head back and fiddled with the makeshift nose plugs.

"We're ninjas." Mikey piped happily from the floor. Both he and Donnie had followed us into the bathroom.

"Ninjas?"

"Yeah, we've been training, like, our whole lives." He bragged.

"Our dad teaches us. He says that we need to know how to defend ourselves—not just because of who and what we are, but also because it's a good thing to know." Donnie explained.

"So does that mean you know the whole stealth thing?" I asked as moved on to Raph's lip and bloody nose. Both had almost completely stopped bleeding, but still could use some attention.

"We're working on it." Raph said, trying not to move his mouth.

"Please don't talk, Dear." I said sweetly as I lightly wiped around his lower lip with an alcohol swab.

"What else do you guys do?" I asked as I ripped open another swab. "This may burn a little." I whispered to Raph who stiffened as I began to blot the cut.

"We're also learning how to use weapons—I have a pair of katanas, those are swords," Leo started, still talking in his nasally voice. "Raph has twin sai, which are three-pronged daggers; Donnie has a bo staff—"

"Which I've modified all by myself." Donnie broke in; sounding prideful, yet cool about his accomplishment.

"And I have nunchucks!" Mikey said happily.

"Plus we're all working on out shruiken accuracy." Leo added.

I was concentrating on bandaging Raph's lip, so I didn't answer right away, but the whole ninja thing explained a lot.

"We'd show you, but we don't have our stuff... It's still in New York." Mikey said glumly.

"From the looks of it, you boys can easily defend yourselves without them." I smiled and looked over my shoulder at Mikey who blushed with a bashful grin.

"Yeah, well, we can get the job done faster when we have them." Raph sighed. I put my hand on top of his head and titled it back; it'd almost stopped bleeding, but here was still some blood oozing out of a nostril. I grabbed the damp washcloth that I'd used on Leo and wiped his nose.

"We didn't have enough time to get them before we were captured." Leo said.

"We _couldn't"_ Donnie exclaimed. "They practically pulled us out of bed!"

"Wow." I commented as I rolled up a small piece of toilet paper and gently stuck it up Raph's nose, making his face draw up as he sucked in air to sneeze.

"It's there... I can feel it..." He said as his face continued to twist until it finally came; he had to hold the nose plug in so it didn't fly out. We all laughed together at Raph's weird faces and kept chuckling five minutes afterward because we were too tired to stop.

After checking Leo and Raph's noses one last time, we all migrated back to my room. It was about 1:00 in the morning and all of us were exhausted, even Mikey. With a few exchanged words, we all piled into bed, and wrapped up in our own blankets. Within minutes the boys were out; Mikey was under my left arm and buried into my side and Raph was under my right, mouth open and catching flies. Leo and Donnie were cuddled up against each other on the other side of Raph, curled into little balls and sleeping soundly. I wasn't asleep yet, I couldn't. There were some things still left on my mind that had to be thought over first.

It was truly an act of God that I'd found these wonderful creatures when I did. Nobody in the entire world would probably ever have this experience, this opportunity, to meet and know these brothers. Why was I the one to save them? Why me? Those were questions that would probably never be answered. But when something like this happens, you can't help but wonder. As these thoughts tumbled around in my head, I eventually decided that this was something that'd probably take time to answer, and I was okay with that. Just the fact that they were safe put me at ease. I drifted off to sleep with a smile on my face knowing that everything was going to be all right.


	3. Chapter 3: Home Safe and Sound

The boys stayed until the snow melted enough to drive, which ended up to be about five days. Donnie said that they'd be able to catch a plane without much trouble if they were able to keep a low profile. That puzzled and worried me at the same time, but they reassured me that it was possible with a few ball caps, backpacks (to disguise their shells), some baggy clothing, and a cool head. So with a trip to the store for them and print out tickets, they were set.

"Thank you so much for helping us and opening up your home to us." Leo bowed respectfully to me when we arrived at the airport.

"You're welcome here anytime." I said with a smile.

"We can't thank you enough." Donnie smiled from under his hat.

"We'll miss you." Mikey said and hugged my waist.

"And I'll miss you too." I said and lifted up his chin to see his freckled face. "Contact me when you get home, I want to make sure you get back safely." I looked up at Donnie and said in a more serious tone.

"You got it." He winked. We'd exchanged e-mails and given him my phone number before we'd arrived.

"You boys better get goin', your plane starts boarding pretty soon." I sighed.

"Yeah, it's good to be a there a few minutes before boarding." Donnie said. They all looked up at me and all came up and hugged me; I squatted down and wrapped my arms around them.

"Be safe." I said quietly, sending it up as a prayer as well.

"Leo," I said as we broke and cupped his face in my hands. "Remember, be brave and don't ever think that you have to be fearless because of being a leader." My eyes began burn as a lump crawled up in my throat. "If you remember anything about me, remember that." Leo nodded as his blue eyes sparkled in the bleak winter sunlight. I turned to Raph

"Raphael, it's okay to cry," I chuckled. "You shouldn't keep things in for too long or they'll break you down. It's not healthy." I smiled and wiggled the bill of his cap.

"Mikey, keep an eye on your brothers for me." I winked.

"Aye, aye sir!" Mikey saluted and puffed out his chest.

"Donnie, please make sure you guys get in and board the plane safely, you don't need a repeat of last week."

"I'll try my very best. This plan should be fool-proof and if it does fall through, I have a Plan B and C." He said as he pulled out his ticket and waved it in front of him.

"Good," I smiled and pulled them in for one last hug. "Be safe…" I whispered as a tear ran down my cheek. "You'll always be in my heart."

I watched them walk through the glass sliding doors and waited a few minutes before getting back into the car and driving off with silent tears running down my face. It felt like I'd just watched my children go out into the world after graduating from high school and leave for some distant college. I felt like a piece of my heart was taken along with them; a hole in my chest where they'd once been. Of course they were still here, but it still seemed empty and hollow. It literally felt like I was their mother.

Later that night, I received an e-mail from Donnie that they'd made it home safely and surprisingly didn't have any problems with getting on the plane and with the flight. He also commented on how bad the airport security was and literally nobody paid any attention to them. I smiled and told him that I was already missing them and that they'd better behave themselves or I was going to have to go up there and straighten them out if they didn't.

We exchanged a few more e-mails after that but eventually lost connection, but the never left my mind and I'd think about them every now and then, wondering how they were doing and smiling every time they came to mind because, how could I not?


	4. Chapter 4: Hello Again

**_~10 years later~_**

My husband and son were out on a father-son camping trip, so I had the house to myself. It was nice to have some alone time, no chores to worry about, nothing to keep up with, just me, myself, and I.

I was deep into a book and enjoying the ever dimming spring light of evening when there was a soft knock on the side door. Even though it was the door the delivery guy didn't use, I suspected it was a new guy who was finishing the rounds a little late. But why are we getting something? I didn't order anything.

"Maybe it's something Guy ordered." I mumbled as I got up from the couch and walked to answer the door or pick up whatever thing he had ordered.

When I got to the door, there wasn't a package there, but four hulking figures that took up the majority of the view of the windows in the door. I opened the door and gaped up at the huge, inhuman figures with colored cloth masks wrapped around their eyes in my doorway. They looked down at me with bright eyes and friendly smiles; they seemed oddly familiar... They looked like giant turt—

"Oh my gosh!" I gasped as I clapped my hands over my mouth. _"Boys?"_ My voice cracked as the memories of the horrible winter in 2014 flooded back into my mind along with the four unique turtles that I'd met.

"Hi Jessie." The one wearing a blue mask said, it was his deep blue eyes that gave away who he was.

"Leo!" I squealed and reached up and held his face in my hands. "You've grown so much!" I slipped his mask back and saw the face of the little boy turtle that I'd pulled out of the snow ten years ago. "All of you have!" I looked up at the three others.

All of them towered at least 6'6" and were built like tanks—nothing but muscle. They wore their own styles of make-shift clothing that suited their personalities. Donnie had taped glasses now and a purple mask under them and wore an ensemble of different technologies on ranging from mounted Go-Pros on his shell to solar panels around his waist. Nothing less than what I'd expect from the lanky Brainiac of the brothers. Leo had a more Japanese traditional wardrobe, but still had his own twist—practical with the occasional button pin on a leather strap or an arm-band tattoo. Mikey was nothing but style—with his orange mask, beaded and shelled necklaces with a white pair of sunglasses that hung from them, a tattered white sweatshirt tied around his waist and some kind of thick athletic pants and high-top basketball shoes. Raph was the biggest and had some kind of leather-stripped belt around his hips and a red mask that covered the top of his head and eyes, no accessories really aside from black sunglasses that rested on his head and a toothpick in his mouth.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I stepped aside to let them in.

"We were in the neighborhood and decided to stop by." Leo shrugged.

"How did you know where I lived?"

"We looked up your address." Donnie said simply. "It's also helpful when you live in the same house as you did when we were here last." That made sense. I took over the house when Mom and Dad decided to downsize a few years ago.

"We also kept a watchful eye on you, kinda an obligation thing." Raph said as we walked into the living room.

"So that means you know about Guy and Zachariah." I grinned.

"Zachariah is so cute! I'd love to meet him." Mikey exclaimed as he sat down in the recliner and the others on the couch next to me.

"Well, he's out on a daddy-son camping trip. They're supposed to be back tomorrow." I shrugged apologetically.

"Does he know about us?" Leo asked.

"I've told him the story about me saving you guys, but I let him and Guy believe that it's a fairy tale and that's probably the way it should be."

"What does Zachariah think of the story?" Donnie asked and pushed his glasses up on his nose and leaned in in curiosity.

"It's actually one of his favorite stories," I chuckled. "He says _"Tutles Mommy, tutles"_ when he wants to hear it. Go figure."

"Really?" Leo asked in amazement.

"Yeah, I think he likes Raph the best, I honestly don't know." I shrugged and looked over at Raph who blushed and kept a straight face, trying to hide his flattery. "How long are you planning to stay down here?"

"We're travelling to investigate a lead on a situation that we're in up north, so it's not going to be too long, but we could use a break from all of the driving." Donnie explained, waving his hand as he talked.

"Lead? As in a crime lead?" I asked in confusion.

"We've kinda taken it upon ourselves to use our skills for something other than just self-defense—it's a waste if you can't use your skills for _something."_ Leo explained. "So, yes, we've gotten into the crime fighting business."

 _"Please_ tell me that you don't do this during the day." I whined.

"Oh of course not! That's just plain stupid. If we were out doing stuff like that during the day, we would've already been put in a zoo." Donnie exclaimed. Good. It was dangerous enough for them to go into an airport by themselves when they were bite-sized in disguises and actually looked somewhat like a normal kid, but when you're as big as they are now, disguises don't really work like they used to. So they went on talking about their crime-fighting hobby and how they go out about every night to "clean the scum off of the streets" and be vigilantes like super heroes.

We talked and talked until we were almost blue in the face—catching up on life, sharing stories, and laughing the night away. Nothing was better than talking with old friends that you haven't seen in years. I learned that night that you don't talk to Donnie in the morning until he's had at least two cups of coffee and never to wake Raph before 8:00 without a good reason, most of those stories were told by Mikey who'd learned those rules the hard way. Leo told me about their training and how important to have a tedious workout, which was followed with complaints from his brothers at how much he'd added and how hard he pushed them instead of their Dad who was the one who'd set up the original regimen. Raph bragged about how many times he'd beaten Leo, the _"Greatest One of All,"_ at sparring, which ended with a salty exchange of words. After I separated them like I did that first night, we fell into a tensioned filled silence as the two pouted and glared at each other.

"We—we thought you'd want these back." Mikey cleared his throat and pulled a stack of four sweatshirts out from behind him.

"What?" I asked as I got up and took them from his hands. _"You kept them?"_ I said in dismay and sat down on the floor and unfolded each sweatshirt. One blue, one red, one purple, and one orange. They were the hoodies that I gave them when they were kids.

"We figured that you'd want them back when we got back home and swore that we'd get them back to you one day. It was the least we could do." Leo said.

"You didn't have to..." My voice cracked as my eyes started to water.

"Yes we did, we swore and had to stick with it."

"Flip them over." Mikey said excitedly. I turned each over on the floor and saw that there were ten hand prints on the back that in some sort of way framed a small hand written passage in the middle of it. Each hand print had a year under it that started at 2014 and an age—seven years old that got progressively bigger with the year. I read the passages and all of them were thank you notes with a favorite memory and all signed at the bottom. Every memory brought back its memory and replayed it like it was yesterday.

"This is wonderful." I sniffed, lightly tracing the permanent marker with my finger.

"We knew that you'd like it." Mikey said softly with a warm grin. I looked up at him with a shaky smile and softly shook my head as I looked back at the hoodies.

"You don't know how much these mean to me... I've missed you all so much since then..." I live for the sentimental things, these were now some of my top things now.

"We have too..." Raph said quietly and got up and hugged me, shortly after that, the rest joined in on the hug as I began to cry even harder. My boys were home once again. They were home.

It was hard saying goodbye to them, but they had to get on their way with their investigation. Nothing but the love of my own child and husband could never top the love I felt from those brothers that night, I cherished the few hours I had with them like a precious jewel, or four. I didn't hear from them for some time until one day I got an e-mail from a mysterious address that said how much they appreciated my help and that, if it wasn't for me, they wouldn't be alive—they owed me their lives. I said that that was a bit of an exaggeration. I knew who sent the message and I'll never forget who they are.

 ** _~End~_**


End file.
